CRHS holds own in state tennis tourney

Chapmanville tennis athlete Colton Townsend hits a forehand in last weekend’s state tournament.

Austin Hanshaw hits a forehand.

The Lady Tigers’ Cassidy Lewis hits a backhand.

Colton Townsend keeps his eye on the ball.

Chapmanville’s Myla Bryant returns a forehand.

The Chapmanville Regional High School tennis team won no individual championships last weekend in the state tournament at Charleston.

CRHS, however, had a successful showing and season nonetheless.

Chapmanville head coach Don Saunders said the kids gave a great effort in each match.

“We had our chances in each match,” he said. “The other players just made a few more shots than we did and executed just a little bit better, but we played very well against some very good teams and players. I’m proud of the kids.”

CRHS assistant coach Geoff Saunders said he was proud of the kids as well.

“As a coach I can’t say I’m not disappointed with the results,” he said. “However I am not disappointed in our players. They worked hard to get in this position this year and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

In the No. 2 boys’ singles draw, senior Colton Townsend fell behind 6-0 to Moorefield’s Mitchell Martin before mounting a furious rally that came up short, as Martin closed out Townsend 8-4, and would make it all the way to the semifinals.

On the girls’ side, junior and No. 1 seed Cassidy Lewis took on two-time all-state player Allie Yoho of Robert C. Byrd. Yoho jumped out to a 4-1 lead before Lewis made a run to take a late 6-5 lead, but Yoho was able to stave off Lewis’ upset bid, as she took the last three games for an 8-6 win. Yoho would advance to the semifinals before bowing out of the tournament as well.

In the No. 2 girls’ singles draw, Chapmanville junior Myla Bryant picked up a first round win over Maggie Canoy of Petersburg 8-3, and then nearly upset the top seed from Region 2, Katie Combs of Liberty, in the quarterfinals, but Combs was able to outlast Bryant 9-7 to advance to the semifinals.

In the girls’ No. 1 doubles, Lewis and sophomore Savannah Toney went down to Moorefield’s Megan Sisler and Sarah McCausley 8-5 in a hard fought match.

In the No. 2 girls’ doubles quarterfinals, Bryant and junior Sara Lambert fell just short in a back and forth affair with Keyser’s Hannah Spurling and Jenna Pase 8-6, as Spurling and Pase made a run all the way to the finals before falling.

Assistant coach and head coach of the CMS tennis team, Chris Kidd, said it was a great season and great effort at the state tournament.

“These kids really put in an incredible effort,” he said. “They had to take on all-tournament players and state finalist and semifinalist and top seeds from other regions and nearly pulled off several upsets. It’s extremely hard to make a deep run in the tournament with all the different styles of play and players you haven’t seen all year, but we represented ourselves well. Nobody ever expects southern West Virginia to turn out good players who can contend with the Charleston, Parkersburg, and Huntington area teams, but our kids have consistently competed and beaten these teams over the past several years.

“We don’t have anywhere near the resources they have at their disposal, but our kids have a lot of heart and work so hard to get to this point, and I’m glad they played so well. You could offer me all the top players in the state to coach and I’d pick our kids every time. They’ve done some special things in this sport, and it’s been so much fun seeing them grow as players and people.”

Chapmanville tennis athlete Colton Townsend hits a forehand in last weekend’s state tournament.

http://loganbanner.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_Chap-tennis-state-BEST-Colton-Townsend-hits-a-forehand-CMYK.jpgChapmanville tennis athlete Colton Townsend hits a forehand in last weekend’s state tournament.